Musings of a life without a car in California, well at least San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley. Full of tips, observations and impact of automobiles on our lives.
Check out the links to the right for resources and tips for reducing car usage. Get Active! Start Moving on your own energy! You can contact me at carfreeincalifornia@mac.com

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Portland makes it easy to change from a "carborg" to a human again.

NPR.org had a great story on All Things Considered on how Portland has become the most bicycle friendly city and as a result has the highest number of Bicycle Commuters. Portland really looks at the world in a worldly way, saying they aren't trying to compare themselves to other American cities but European cities. The goal is making is safe, convenient and the easiest way to get around. In short Geller, Portland's bicycle coordinator says making bicycling convenient and making cars driving more cumbersome. An innovation is the bicycle box

A quarter of all trips in the U.S. are bicycle distances of less than a mile. Something to think about. In Holland, there are dedicated bicyclist lanes to make bicyclists feel safe. When we start defining our space in human terms again, we'll become human again. In a previous post, I spoke about how it's a matter of perspective, that we look at the world in terms of car appropriate distances, it's as if we have merged with cars to become "carborgs" it's good to see that Portland is trying to make us human again.

2 Comments:

i heard that, it was a good story. if we had dedicated bike lanes that provided a safe buffer from cars, i think more people with kids would be willing to go by bike, too. right now i'd be unwilling to put my kid in one of those little tow-behind things when there are cars whizzing by a foot from their her head. i want a bike boulevard like they mentioned.

I caught that story too, during one of my increasingly rare moments in the car, and I was so jealous of Portland! one technical detail, I think it was a quarter of all trips in cities in this country are bikeable distances - that's what really gets me, is that even in a large city, biking is relatively scary still.